The subject of the invention pertains to metal casting of all types, however, it has particular application to the various types of sand casting operations used in the industry. Irrespective of the type of casting process utilized, as discussed above, the eventual goal and ideal in metal casting is to produce a resultant casting of superior quality at an economical cost, and the invention herein is directed to this objective.
Production of castings of superior quality where are free of imperfections requires use of auxiliary support devices, such as chaplets, which must be used to preserve the integrity of the mold and maintain the core in proper situation. In this latter regard, interlocking devices are also used to help maintain the opposing mold shapes, in the cope and the drag, properly aligned when the molten metal is introduced into the mold cavity. Any misalignment of the opposing mold configurations will cause corresponding problems in the resultant casting, with resultant misalignment problems.
In order to prevent such misalignment problems in metal casting, interlocks are formed in the surrounding sand portions of the cope and drag respectively. More particularly, one or more male members are formed in the drag portion adjacent its sand mold configuration and one or more female members are formed in the cope portion adjacent its sand mold. A male interlock member is adapted to fit conformingly into a mating female interlock member so as to lock the cope and drag sand portions together so the cope and drag portions do not become misaligned relative to one another during the casting process.
Most interlock forming members, as fitted in the match plate, are generally comprised of two separate members for the male and female portions respectively, with resultant loss of economy in use, manufacture, and handling. This invention is conceived for the purpose of using a unitary member functioning as an integrated interlock forming member to overcome these indicated problems.